Should I Start or Should I Wait?

[S.R. Hansford]

I'll try to spare my words. I've finished most of my planning for my novel, decided all of the main characters and listed in chronological order all the most important plot points throughout the story.

I did so because I planned for it to be a very long story (a literary work), and I thought that I should just use the points as a guideline and pretty much write free write the entire novel, not knowing how any of the little details would play out.

The problem is I've never really done any works like that. I've always done complete outlines of my stories, whether shorts or novels, and with those outlines I completed them fairly easily (even stories I quit on and returned to much later). I've written only one short with the bulleted, vague outline as my backing, and it was only about 600 words.

Anyway, article over. Do you guys think I should just jump in and write the novel or wait and plan everything out?

[Daedalus]

People spend their lives mulling over things that really aren't worth mulling over. I don't know how many times I've heard someone say, "Gee, I've always wanted to write a novel. I just never got around to it". People who say that will invariably never write a novel.

Planning works for some people; doesn't for others. Personally, I jump right in and write. It hasn't done me any harm so far; I'm working on my eighth novel right now. Do whatever you feel will be conducive towards your goal of finishing. If that's planning, so be it. No-one can tell you what works best for you. You gotta figure that out on your own, and the way you do that is by starting to write. Now. Not when the cat dies, or the kids leave, or whatever.

[Dragon King]

Ultimately, you're the only one who can truly answer this. Personally, I've never planned a story. I know the characters inside and out, but I hadn't decided on most of them until I started the story. In fact, I only really know some of them so well because of my character planning tool - The Sims 2/3

[paladin]

I'm from the other side of the divide, too. Both of my novels sprouted from a vague, one-sentence summary.
Daedalus is right. If you're a planner, then plan, but at some point you have to stop planning and write the thing. Why not put aside the outline and write a scene that excites you?

[EmmChris]

I say start. You can always stop and write one up if it's going badly and you change your mind.

[Mike C]

Start right now. Get off the internet.

[bparker]

I say go for it. Start the story if you think you're ready. You may spend too long on the finer details and the story will lose its appeal. If it's long, it'll probably take you a while, so it may be good to get started. Since you've created smaller stories using this method successfully, I'm sure that a larger would turn out fine as well.

What if you wrote a short, quick version of the story, and then went back and added details. Would that work for your story?

[jdbentley]

I'd definitely start. If you have a vague outline, that's already more than enough to have you speeding through your story. No use waiting!

[d.Leroy]

Write it.

Best of luck,
d.